The Top SEO Platforms of 2012: A Summary of the Forrester Wave Report

Recently, Forrester Wave™ (a marketing technology analysis organization) released a report on SEO platforms in 2012. SEO platforms are relatively new tools that help to streamline the search optimization process. These SEO tools “platforms” are capable of everything from tracking keywords to optimizing content across search engines and other channels.

SEO technologies have evolved a great deal over the past couple of years – in 2009 SEO technologies were few and far between. And as PPC inflation continues to grow and marketers continue to look for other inexpensive digital marketing solutions, the demand for SEO platforms that automate time-consuming and often complex optimization processes will continue to grow as well.

Forrester points out that the ideal SEO platform will have the following three automated capabilities:

1. Auditing the site content and structure for search, capabilities

2. Recognizing where a site needs to improve for search rankings, capabilities

Here are the four SEO platforms that met Forrester’s criteria for evaluation as well as a summary of what they found:

SEO Platform 1: Rio SEO

One of the newer SEO platforms, this platform ranked highest in Forrester’s evaluations because it optimizes content across “multiple discovery platforms, not just search engines” and it autocreates optimized web pages, mobile sites, and local landing pages. This is a great solution for beginners in SEO, people who don’t have much SEO knowledge.

SEO Platform 2: BrightEdge

Has strong content auditing, forecasting, and security capabilities, not found in the other platforms. Its social media solutions are unmatched as it can optimize content on social channels and create relevant tweets. This platform is perfect for people who use their social media channels regularly as it helps you streamline your posting process.

SEO Platform 3: SEOmoz

Easy-to-use audit tools “are the most pervasive in the market.” And while the functionality of SEOmoz is a bit lacking, it’s a great resource to consider layering on with whatever other SEO platforms you are using. May not be the best platform for everyone, but integrating SEOmoz tools are highly recommended no matter what platform you are using.

SEO Platform 4: Conductor

Has a “customer-centric culture” but is seriously lacking when it comes to content auditing, optimization and implementation capabilities. It is able to create reports on social assets but is unable to audit them. Not a great platform if you don’t have much knowledge of SEO.

The report was really interesting, and if you are looking to hire SEO’s or support your current SEO efforts, it’s definitely worth a read.